Burt and Joyce

A married couple very much in love, Burt and Joyce were inseparable. We were looking after them for three years. They were able to live together and shared a bed up to the end. Joyce was full of life and constantly talking or providing advice – “Isn’t that right Burt!”. Burt however, was the model of a taciturn man who rarely offered anything to say other than a request for another cold drink.

After three years of full time care the time came when we knew Joyce was in very poor health and we all assumed that Burt would have to live on without her. So it was a surprise when Burt told us that his doctor had told him he didn’t have long to live as the cancer, that he had requested be kept hidden from Joyce, had finally reached his internal organs –he was dead inside the month. Burt had only just been taken away by the funeral director when Joyce went to bed for the last time. They shared their funeral as well.